SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence vs. SAP Data Services

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Score 7.2 out of 10
N/A
The SAP® BusinessObjects™ Business Intelligence Platform provides users with ad hoc queries, reporting, data visualizations, and analysis tools. Its integrated, unified infrastructure aims to offer scalability from one-to-many tools and interfaces on-premise, in the cloud, or as a hybrid approach.N/A
SAP Data Services
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
SAP Data Services is an offering from SAP to improve data quality.N/A
Pricing
SAP BusinessObjects Business IntelligenceSAP Data Services
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
SAP BusinessObjects Business IntelligenceSAP Data Services
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
SAP BusinessObjects Business IntelligenceSAP Data Services
Considered Both Products
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Chose SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Platform is an on premise solution that allows you to display information hosted on an SAP BW / 4 HANA server.
SAP Analytics Cloud is SAP's business intelligence solution that works in the cloud and is complemented by SAP …
Chose SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
Analysis Services and Oracle Discoverer are more developer oriented than true self service tools and their development capabilities as well as their content delivery is limited. The Symantec layer sets BO apart in that regard. Heavy development is also possible and custom …
Chose SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
We selected SAP Business Objects in the previous instance because we were implementing SAP ERP and the choice of Business Objects was favorable from an integration and cost perspective. We did not choose SAP Business Objects most recently because of the predicted long …
SAP Data Services
Chose SAP Data Services
SAP Data Services is better at integration with other SAP products and data sources with native HANA connectors. There are also accelerators to consider when looking at it as a data migration tool for SAP implementations.
Features
SAP BusinessObjects Business IntelligenceSAP Data Services
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
7.2
52 Ratings
13% below category average
SAP Data Services
-
Ratings
Pixel Perfect reports8.546 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable dashboards6.348 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates6.748 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
6.6
49 Ratings
19% below category average
SAP Data Services
-
Ratings
Drill-down analysis5.348 Ratings00 Ratings
Formatting capabilities6.748 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages7.033 Ratings00 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration7.348 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
7.6
49 Ratings
8% below category average
SAP Data Services
-
Ratings
Publish to Web9.040 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to PDF7.047 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Versioning6.542 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.348 Ratings00 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers7.027 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
6.8
44 Ratings
16% below category average
SAP Data Services
-
Ratings
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)6.042 Ratings00 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization6.539 Ratings00 Ratings
Predictive Analytics7.538 Ratings00 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
8.4
49 Ratings
2% below category average
SAP Data Services
-
Ratings
Multi-User Support (named login)8.049 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.747 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.346 Ratings00 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control8.73 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)8.330 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
5.9
34 Ratings
28% below category average
SAP Data Services
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access6.533 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Application4.028 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile4.030 Ratings00 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
6.6
25 Ratings
16% below category average
SAP Data Services
-
Ratings
REST API6.521 Ratings00 Ratings
Javascript API6.320 Ratings00 Ratings
iFrames7.018 Ratings00 Ratings
Java API6.323 Ratings00 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)7.021 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)6.520 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Quality
Comparison of Data Quality features of Product A and Product B
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
-
Ratings
SAP Data Services
6.1
9 Ratings
33% below category average
Data source connectivity00 Ratings5.39 Ratings
Data profiling00 Ratings6.09 Ratings
Master data management (MDM) integration00 Ratings7.17 Ratings
Data element standardization00 Ratings6.99 Ratings
Match and merge00 Ratings5.19 Ratings
Address verification00 Ratings6.38 Ratings
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User Ratings
SAP BusinessObjects Business IntelligenceSAP Data Services
Likelihood to Recommend
7.0
(74 ratings)
6.1
(9 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.3
(24 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
6.7
(17 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.6
(16 ratings)
8.7
(4 ratings)
In-Person Training
10.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
SAP BusinessObjects Business IntelligenceSAP Data Services
Likelihood to Recommend
SAP
As mentioned earlier reporting was a big headache for us and the tools we used didn't support large data sets and visualization Performing analytics with such data sets was cumbersome and later post using this SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence we were able to correlate different data sets and prepare the dashboard pretty easier which were helpful and easier to understand.
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SAP
It's definitely one of the leading ETL tools, and it's the best ETL tool to use with SAP integration. If you use SAP HANA, then you should think about Data Services as your primary ETL tool.
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Pros
SAP
  • This software is easy to initially learn, and very powerful in producing reusable reports.
  • It is much faster than my company's internal manual queries. The ability to build off of a saved query and share queries to other users is a great positive.
  • My favorite part is that you can run queries in the background and it does not interfere with your current work or slow your computer down.
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SAP
  • Integration with SAP ERP/ECC works really well.
  • A lot of flexibility in data creation, with different types of communication capabilities like BAPIs, IDocs, and Batch input.
  • Reliable and consistent results and easily enforceable data templates.
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Cons
SAP
  • The installation can be very complex and time-consuming, it requires a lot of planning and foresight as to what role the software will play in the organization.
  • The software has a relatively large learning curve that takes dedicated users months to get comfortable with, the UI is a bit intimidating for new users.
  • SAP could organize their help better, it can be difficult to find dependable solutions to issues via their website and support channels.
Read full review
SAP
  • Debugging is not very easy. When one wants to see the flow of data from one Query to another, the process is not very smooth and efficient.
  • A lot of functions do not behave the way they should. I have faced problems with the count() function.
  • I have faced problems while loading Excel files. The same set of options will work in one case but not in the other.
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Likelihood to Renew
SAP
The institution has decided to move in a different direction, and will be using MSBI for reporting. I have been very happy with the Business Objects suite of tools, and will continue to use them heavily until we make the transition.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Usability
SAP
From a server and client side perspective. the Business Intelligence Platform provides a foundation for all aspects of content development, distribution, analysis, collaboration and self service. Ease of use from targeted content delivery through controlled accessibility. Content exporting in the format of the users choice. Scheduling for internal or external delivery. Public and private folders for secure content access when requied. Web based for viewing on the users device of choice without the need to download additional applications.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
SAP
When we implemented 3.1, we had a tough time managing the system: It took almost a year to stabilize.

With 4.0, we want to roll out to more users, and are holding back because of fears about the performance issue
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Performance
SAP
Overall, the tool (Web Intelligence 4.2) is fast and solid. One issue is a dependability on JAVA for a full feature report creation/edit capabilities (as opposed to limited HTML option). Second, planned end of JAVA support by major browsers (Chrome is already not supporting JAVA applet).
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
SAP
SAP has released various versions of SAP BO BI. starting from 3.1 and going to 4.0,4.1,4.2 and latest being 4.3. SAP provides support to these new versions. As new versions keep on coming, support for the very old software goes out of scope from SAP. it is when the different organization plans to get their BO content migrated from a lower version to a newer version. The newer version had definitely added functionality and features which ease the work of users.
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SAP
As other SAP products, there is excellent support by SAP on this tool. You can access the SAP Help portal in order to give support either from the huge community or directly from SAP.
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In-Person Training
SAP
SAP authorized training is best, Please go ahead with it. Even lot of online training options/videos available for self learning
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Online Training
SAP
I haven't used it or got feedback from the end user.

Content looks to be pretty detailed. Focused on SQL but not BW.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
SAP
Hire specialists and experienced staff. Mix some beginners so that everyone is not a leader but a learner too. Plan well; architect well; break down implementation in small steps and move towards larger steps. Create a centralized and authorized SAP Business Objects implementation team.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
SAP
We selected SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) based on price. It can stack up against others in terms of price and honestly, that's about it. Salesforce Commerce does a hell of a better job at handling it. However, in the space of Business Intelligence, SAP can do more, and that's why at the end we went with it
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SAP
You cannot afford to run your business on questionable data. With SAP® Data Services software, you can access, transform, and connect data to fuel your critical business processes. Together, these enterprise-class solutions enable data integration and data quality, providing the right level of insight across your business so you can make better decisions and operate more effectively.SAP Data Services was previously known as SAP BusinessObjects Data Services, SAP BusinessObjects Data Integrator, BusinessObjects Data Integrator.
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Scalability
SAP
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Platform supports SOA Service Oriented Architecture. You can start/restart/enable/disable all the servers. You can seamless do load balancing and clustering. It supports all leading application and web server. Supports LDAP SSO integration. People who can work on excel with training they can work on SAP Business Objects Web Intelligence, dashboard, Lumira, Information design tool product suite. Tool is very user friendly and easy to learn and implement
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
SAP
  • By generating and distributing reports in a timely manner, we were able to save millions of dollars for the company which otherwise would not have been visible.
  • Almost realtime dashboard, saved the company a huge amount by showing the outages and kept the company from buying a tool to do just that.
  • It showed the customers who were not paying the bills and were missing in the system due to some loophole. This was visible by doing reporting on the theft usage of electricity.
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SAP
  • Very positive impact in jobs maintenance since support auto-documentation.
  • Great impact on learning curve.
  • Great results in our Data Quality Projects.
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